503 Error – 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

⚠️ What Is a 503 Error?

A 503 error means the web server is temporarily unable to handle the request. This can happen for a few reasons:

Server resources are maxed out (e.g., CPU, RAM)
Plesk service or application pool has crashed
Maintenance or configuration issues

This is typically a server-side issue, not a problem with the website code or domain itself.

✅ Step 1: Verify the Error

Visit the domain in your browser (use incognito/private mode)
Check if the 503 error is consistent
Test with httpstatus.io or downforeveryoneorjustme.com to confirm it’s not local

🔎 Step 2: Check Hosting Status in Plesk Panel

Log into Plesk for the domain
Check if the website is suspended
- If suspended, you’ll see a banner or notice. Unsuspend if needed.
Go to Domains > [domain name] > Hosting Settings
- Confirm that Hosting Type = Website Hosting
- Check that no settings have been changed (e.g., PHP version)
Go to Tools & Settings > Services Management
- Check if Apache, nginx, or PHP-FPM are stopped or failing
- If they are stopped, escalate to Hosting Team

🧪 Step 3: Basic Agent Actions

If the site isn’t suspended:

✅ Restart Apache/nginx (if access is available) via “Services Management” or escalate if unsure
✅ Re-enable the domain (if disabled)
✅ Ask the customer if they made recent changes (theme/plugin updates, migrations, etc.)

📝 Step 4: Gather Info Before Escalation

If issue persists, escalate and include:

Customer domain: example.com
Exact error seen: (copy/paste or screenshot)
When issue started
Hosting type (Shared, VPS, etc.)
Whether customer can access Plesk or not
Any recent changes reported
What steps you already tried (from this checklist)

🚨 When to Escalate Immediately

Escalate to Hosting Team if:

Website is suspended and won’t re-enable
Apache/nginx is stopped and cannot be restarted
Other sites on the same server are down
High resource usage is suspected

📋 Agent Template for Escalation

Subject: 503 Error – [Customer Domain]
Description:
Customer is receiving a 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable error on their Plesk-hosted site: example.com.

✅ Verified issue via browser
✅ Hosting appears active in Plesk
✅ No suspension or recent customer changes reported